Restaurants & cafes · a guide from Curated Media
Guests decide with their eyes and their friends. They want to know what the food looks like, what the room feels like, who is behind the counter and whether there is a reason to come this week rather than someday. Most of that decision is made on a phone, from a feed, before they ever see the menu.
Before they buy
The pillars
A pillar is a recurring reason to post. Together they answer the questions above, and the mix between them is what makes a month feel like a business rather than a feed.
01
The menu, shot well. It is the reason the account exists and the reason people follow it.
Three posts that work
02
Prep, kitchen, craft. It turns a menu into people making things, and it is where the trust comes from.
Three posts that work
03
Staff and regulars. Guests come back to people, not to tables.
Three posts that work
04
The room and the visit. It answers whether this is a place for a date, a family, or a laptop.
Three posts that work
05
Promotions and specials. They give the audience a reason to come this week, and they are easy to measure.
Three posts that work
06
Community and place. Why this restaurant is in this neighborhood, and who it belongs to.
Three posts that work
A month on the plan
Two on-location sessions, 21 videos and 8 posts published across the month, and the mix adjusted each month using performance, audience response and what the business needs next.
Illustrative monthA recurring month for a restaurants and cafes business on the Monthly Content Engine. An example of our planning, not client work. Published pieces were filmed and approved in the previous cycle.
| Week | Filmed and edited | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Session 1 through one service, prep to first tables: material for 11 videos and 4 posts | 5 videos · 2 posts3 Food1 Behind the Scenes1 People |
| Week 2 | No session. Session 1 drafts edited and sent for approval | 5 videos · 2 posts2 Food1 Experience1 People1 Offers |
| Week 3 | Session 2 in the kitchen and with the team: material for 10 videos and 4 posts | 6 videos · 2 posts3 Food1 Behind the Scenes1 Culture1 People |
| Week 4 | No session. Session 2 drafts edited and sent for approval. Next month planned | 5 videos · 2 posts2 Food1 Experience1 Offers1 Culture |
What we see most
A feed that is all plates and no people is a menu with a scroll bar. It never answers who is behind the counter or why anyone should care.
An empty dining room reads as an empty restaurant. Film it filling up, or film the table, never the void.
An offer that posts the morning of the special has no time to work. Plan it a week ahead so the post lands when the decision is being made.
Filming happens in service or in prep, not when someone has a free minute. A planned session gets both without slowing the line.
Where we would start
We would start with one food piece, one prep piece and one person on the team, from a single session through one service, because together they answer the first three questions a guest asks.
Want us to look at yours? The free deep dive is a review of your current marketing and a short call walking through the priorities we see. You keep the notes.